Far Cry: Remnant
by Fireballmonkey
Summary: (Currently going through some minor rewrites) Jason Brody had finally gotten back to a normal life...sorta. Until something from his past comes back to bite him in the ass...and then once more in the dick.
1. Chapter 1

Jason Brody sat in the living room of his apartment. He looked at the picture in his hands. It showed him, his brothers, Grant and Riley, and his ex-girlfriend, Liza. It had been two years since he and his friends had left Rook Island. Two years since he killed Voss and Hoyt, deserted the Rakiyat Tribe, and saved his friends from being sold into slavery. After the island, the seven survivors had received a lot of treatment due to what they went through. But after a few months, Jason had stopped going. He convinced almost everyone that he was fine, almost. Liza was still wary of him, almost getting your throat slit by your hallucinating boy friend who was somehow educated into a native tribe of warriors tends to do that to you. She'd broken off they're relationship six months ago.

Jason looked down in disgust at his left arm. On it were the tataus given to him by the Rakiyat. How he hated them. They once represented his accomplishments as a warrior, but now they just reminded him of all the blood he'd spilled in his time on the island. He had gone to all the tattoo removal places in town, and none of them helped. It couldn't be explained. They had just appeared on his arm after killing a certain way, crafting something, etc.

It was, as he put it, some _mystical shit._ He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the buzzer. Jason went over to his door, opened it, and found a mail man...or boy, he looked sixteen. He was panting a bit, and Jason was about to ask why, but the teen beat him to it.

"Package for a," He looked at his clipboard, "Jason Brody."

"Who's it from?"

The boy just shrugged and dragged a large, thin wooden crate to the door. Jason insisted on helping the kid carry it. Together, they brought it to the bedroom, the bed was the only thing wide enough to hold it.

Jason signed the forms the mail boy gave him, then the boy took off to his next delivery, closing the door on his way out.

Jason turned his attention back to the large crate. It was rectangular, six feet long by two feet wide, and a foot high. He tried, and failed, to open it with his hands, so he got a metal spatula from his kitchen, and managed to jimmy the top of the box off. The contents inside nearly made him shit a brick. There were things he never wanted to see again:

His Recurve Bow with marksman sight and a quiver that held twenty arrows and ten explosive arrows.

His custom M4 with an extended clip, Marksman scope and 'fire' paint job.

His D50 pistol with an extended clip and 'dry land' paint job.

And finally, His combat knife, The same one Dennis had given him when he first escaped Voss's compound on Rook Island. The same night Grant died. There were also a few slings and pouches to hold the necessary ammo and such, but he wasn't concerned with that at the moment.

Jason was speechless... He had no idea why these were here, then he saw the note.

 _Dear Jason,_

 _It has been a while, no? You see, you thought you could escape your life as a Rakiyat_ _warrior. You thought wrong._

 _Ever since Citra's unfortunate death, The warriors have looked to me for guidance. I told them you killed Citra and betrayed us!_

 _Since then, we have been fighting the remaining pirates, gathering our strength, but most importantly, looking for the compass._

 _The same compass you used to find the knife 'you' killed Citra with. You see, the compass has greater purposes than guiding you to objects._

 _But, do not fear. I do not want to spoil the surprise. As for the weapons,_

 _trust me on this, if nothing else. Where you are going, YOU. WILL. NEED THEM._

 _Happy travels, my friend._

 _Dennis._

When he finished reading, he couldn't help but look in the crate once more. Sure enough, the jade and stone compass was there. Jason hesitated a moment before he picked it up. Almost immediately, greenish waves of energy pulsed from the compass face.

Then everything turned to white.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason opened his eyes and saw he was moving. Well, either that or the sky was moving. He was lying on his back on something cold and metal, he heard the familiar sound of a train. He got up to a kneeling position and was utterly freaked out by many things.

His quiver and M4 were slung over his shoulder. His D50 was in a holster on his right leg and his knife was in a horizontal sheathe just above his tailbone, the handle ever-so-slightly peaked out from behind his back. All his ammo pouches were on his belt and his leather satchel he used to carry his medical supplies, camera and loot was slung over his shoulder so it hung against his left hip.

Once he figured out all the stuff that was on him, he looked around. He _was_ on a train, it was moving through a valley of crimson trees. There were mountains around the valley, and the trees seemed to go on forever. The blood-red leaves just kept falling. Jason thought he'd been kidnapped again, but his location said otherwise.

Jason had never heard of a place like this, even the moon looked different, like the ink giant from his visions had thrown a mountain at it and shattered the moon. He spotted the next car on the train and stepped forward before he remembered his bow. He may have never wanted to see these things again, but Dennis said Jason would need them. He saw it on the floor and picked it up. As he pulled back the string to test it out, he heard the sound of metal being cut. He quickly turned while nocking a normal arrow into the bow. What he saw was a black haired girl in black and white clothes. She had a black bow on her head, but the weirdest thing was the sword she was holding and the train car she had apparently cut off from the rest of the train, a figure stood on the car as he looked toward the girl, but was soon just a speck as the train made more distance. The girl turned to see him, and her amber eyes went wide. Jason had no fucking idea what to do.

"So...you have a sword."

The girl stayed silent, apparently studying him. He tried a different approach. Jason lowered his bow and asked the girl, "Do you know where I am?"

The girl still didn't speak, but she looked a bit pissed off. "Okay, good talk."

Jason turned and walked away. A gunshot was the official _least_ weirdest thing that occurred for him. He turned, and saw the girl's sword had somehow changed into a pistol, Transformers-style. She currently pointed it at him, and he could tell she knew how to use it. Jason pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look, I _really_ don't want to fight you or whatever. I've gone over my level of weirdness for one day. So, I propose neither of us try to harm eachother and I'm gonna go into that train car and take a nap. Okay? Okay."

He opened the door and saw several crates with the image of a snowflake on it. He also saw smaller cases in a large glass box. He was able to see his reflection, and saw the second least weird thing he saw. He looked eighteen.

His black hair was styled in a crewcut, he had a small amount of fuzz on his face where there was once a thin beard, and his nose no longer looked like it'd been broken twice, which it had. His eyes shown with hope for a second as he looked at his arms, but he frowned when he saw his tataus were still there. "Can't win 'em all I guess."

When he heard the creak of the door, he turned and placed his right hand on the handle of his knife. The same raven haired girl had walked through the door, and eyed him curiously. "Sup," He said, lowering his hands.

"Why would you ask where you were?" the girl asked.

"Well, as strange as it sounds, I don't know how I got on this train or where this train is."

She nodded, "This train goes through the Forest of Forever Fall. We're currently on our way to Vale."

Jason nodded for a few seconds while saying, "I have no idea where that is. One minute, I'm in my apartment, a crate filled with weapons, gear and," he rifled through his satchel and pulled out the Rakiyat compass, "This thing. I'm pretty sure it's what brought me here."

"What is that?"

"Something that caused me more trouble than it's worth."

The girl saw him glance at his left forearm, which was covered with strange symbols.

"And the tattoo?"

Jason frowned and was silent for a moment, "Something I wish I could forget." He looked the girl in the eye, "Something tells me you have something similar." He glanced at her bow as he sat down. "People don't just cut a train car off for no reason. Especially when someone was on the other side."

The girl sat down opposite of Jason and brought her knees to her chest. "You have your secrets, I have mine."

Jason nodded and extended his hand toward her, "Jason Brody."

She hesitated, but shook his hand. His grip was surprisingly gentle despite the small scars and calluses that covered it. "Blake."

"Cool name." He put the compass back in the satchel and took out his pistol. As he started to dismantle and reassemble the gun, Blake saw his missing left ring finger. Jason noticed and gave a bitter smile as he remembered how he came down to nine fingers. "Lost it in a poker game." He went back to tinkering with the pistol, allowing Blake to mull over what she'd learned about the mysterious guy who somehow showed up on the train with her.

* * *

An hour had gone by, and Jason had disassembled, reassembled, cleaned and loaded all his weapons. When he confirmed that blake was asleep, he quietly fished through his satchel, and found a syringe filled with a crimson tinted liquid. He recognized it as a sense enhancing herbal blend that was used for stealth operations. When he'd used it the first time, he thought he was tripping balls.

He slowly injected a quarter of the fluid into his arm. He blinked a few times, before the familiar cool feeling that resembled liquid metal seeped into his mind. His vision blurred for a second, before it came into focus and he saw Blake's body outlined in a subtle violet color. _'The whole color thing's new_ ' he thought. He looked her up and down, then up again. He saw two triangle-like shapes peaked out from on top of her head, but he saw that they were covered by her bow when the effects of the drug wore off. He decided to leave it for now, and closed his eyes as the exhaustion of his situation finally sunk in.


	3. Chapter 3

Jason woke up several hours later. He saw Blake reading a book and wondered where she'd gotten it from, but shoved the thought aside. He got up and peeked his head out of the door. He saw that it was nighttime, and they appeared to still be in the valley. The trees were slightly less dense, and as he looked toward the front of the train, he saw they were going at a slight curve around a mountain.

He went back inside and sat down, "Where'd you say this train was going?" Blake looked up from her book, "Vale."

"Well, I still don't know where that is."

"How?"

"I'm starting to think I'm not from here."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I've never heard of a place called Forever Fall, I'm pretty sure the moon wasn't shattered the last time I saw it, not to mention whatever's under that bow."

Blake's eyes widened, "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

Jason just gave her a look that said he didn't believe her. Reluctantly, she undid her bow, revealing her cat ears.

"...I'll be honest, I didn't expect that. Is that normal for people here?"

Blake scowled slightly as she put her bow back on, "Oh come on, I need some answers. At least tell me, What planet is this?"

Blake looked at him strangely, "You seriously don't know what this place is, do you?"

"Nope. All I know is I'm holding this," he pulled the compass back out, "it starts glowing, and then I wake up on this train."

Blake inspected the object. It was made out of some kind of yellow stone as well as jade. It seemed to be made up of several disks and had a handle on the back of it. "Be careful with that thing, it's centuries old."

"This planet is called Remnant."

"Oh." There was a bit of tense silence as Blake handed Jason the compass back.

"Alright," Blake began, "Say that I believed you, how could this thing take you from one planet to another or whatever."

"Well, it's a _really_ long story, plus I'd have to tell you a lot of stuff about my home for you to fully understand."

Blake gestured to the train car they were in, "We've got quite a bit of time."

"Okay, but if I tell you my story, you have to tell me about this place. Deal?"

"...Deal."

* * *

After two hours, Jason had told Blake about Earth, how he and his friends had gone on vacation, gotten kidnapped by pirates, how Grant had died in the initial escape, how the Rakiyat helped him save his friends, the tataus, the compass and the ancient blade, how he'd killed Vaas and Hoyt, escaped the island and how he'd received the compass and weapons through mail, apparently from the very man who'd saved Jason's life.

Blake was speechless. She'd been raised as part of an oppressed race, and learned and trained to fight with the White Fang. But Jason had just been thrown into it, forced to shed so much blood in order to save his friends, his brother.

"Well, now that I've spilled my guts, could you tell me about Remnant?"

"Alright, a deal's a deal. There are four major kingdoms on Remnant that have become safe havens for humanity..."

* * *

Jason had learned so much in a short amount of time. Between the kingdoms, Grimm, Dust, Huntsmen, aura, Faunus, etc., the intake of knowledge of this new world was enough to give him a migraine, but he ignored the headache as Blake finished explaining how the Faunus were oppressed for being different.

"Jeez, even here oppression and racism runs rampant." Jason stated after Blake finished.

"I wanted to ask about that. If there are no Faunus where you come from, then is it more peaceful?"

Jason chuckled, but there was no humor in it, "No. No matter how humanity evolves and grows, there's always discrimination. While here, one might get persecuted for having a tail and such, in my world, people have been discriminated, segregated, oppressed and looked down upon for other things. Skin color, nationality, things like that. It's gotten a lot better than it was decades before, but there's always some intolerance. I guess that's just the way things work."

Blake looked down as she listened, hearing how the absence of faunus only allowed humans to tear each other apart like that was seriously discouraging. She noticed Jason get up and move to one of the crates near the wall. He used his knife to pry the top off, and inside saw several, multi colored crystals in cases. "These are those dust crystals you were telling me about, right?" Jason asked as he looked back to the Faunus girl, who nodded. He remembered how Blake said that there were different types of dust. He grabbed a fire dust crystal and held it closer to his face to examine it.

"This gives me some ideas."

Before Blake could ask, Jason went over to a small utility cupboard, opened it, and took out two rolls of duct tape. The boy stowed one roll in his bag, while he sat back down, pulled five arrows out of his quiver, and went to work. After fixing different crystals to three arrows, a loud thump was heard from outside. Blake looked through the small window next to the door, and saw two security robots on the platform of the train car.

"Get down!" she whispered to Jason. He merely crept to the window, saw the robots, and went back to his gear. "Okay, here's the plan. You open the door and get away from it while I shoot one of these at those robots and see what happens." He said as he held an explosive arrow with an Ice Dust crystal taped to it.

"Are you insane!?"

"Do you really want to know the answer to that?" Jason asked as he grabbed his bow and notched the modified arrow.

"Fine," Blake relented as she grabbed the door handle. "On three. One...Two...Three!" As the door flew open, Jason drew the bowstring back and released. The arrow flew straight and hit the closest android in the chest, causing it to be blown off the train as the droid was encased in ice. The second droid still stood, aiming a pair of wrist mounted guns at the them.

Jason looked to Blake, "Any ideas?"

Blake rolled her eyes before rushing through the door and unsheathing Gambol Shroud. The robot turned to fire at her, but she ducked under the guns, slashed at its midsection. It was knocked off balance, and Blake took the opportunity to kick it off the side of the train.

"Nice one."

When Blake turned around, she saw Jason holding one of the small cases that were in the train car. She narrowed her eyes and frowned.

"Why do you have that?"

"What? At least three train cars were lost a few hours ago. I highly doubt whoever runs this train'll miss one case-"

They were interrupted by the whistle of the train. Jason turned towards the front to see they were slowing down, approaching a train station. He saw a road lead from the station to what he could only assume was Vale. He vanished inside the train car that had provided the two teens with shelter. When he emerged, he had his gear, but had stowed his rifle, the case of dust, his bow and quiver of arrows in a canvas duffel bag he'd found while snooping around. "I outta get off before we stop, finding one hitchhiker on the apparently robbed train is suspicious enough. Do you have a plan if they find you?"

Blake nodded, "I'll be fine. Shouldn't you be worried about yourself? It's a few miles to the city and you'll undoubtedly run into a few grimm on the way."

"I'll be fine. Good luck, Blake. I hope our paths cross again." With that, he jumped off the train while its speed started to decrease speed. As he hit the ground, Jason rolled to cushion the impact, dusted himself off, and started to walk in the direction of the road that connected the station to the city of Vale.

* * *

The forest was still thick, but he was still able to see the road as he walked parallel to it about a hundred feet to his left. Jason walked along the woods, he'd slung the duffel bag across his back and now held his M4 in hand in case he encountered hostile grimm.

The young warrior trudged along for hours. He'd been climbing trees occasionally to make sure he was going in the right direction. But every time he looked beyond the tree line, the distant city skyline seemed no closer than the last time. Perhaps the 'Forever' in Forever Fall had two meanings.

During his time on Rook Island, there were usually only a few methods of transportation at his disposal: walking, cars or wing suit/parachute. As of now, he only found one of those useful.


	4. Chapter 4

It was sometime before dawn when Jason heard gunshots. They were faint, maybe half a kilometer away. Jason took off in the direction he last heard them, abandoning the path to the city.

* * *

He came to a break in the tree line and saw a vast clearing. A few trees and car sized boulders peppered the flat area, but something else was drawing Jason's attention; people in black hoods and white vests that had a picture of a red wolf's head and three claw marks were shooting at a small group of men in white and blue armor, the smaller of the two groups were taking cover around a strange wrecked airplane-like vehicle and shot back with small arms fire. He could see one of them was holding onto his knee while his leg was slowly becoming soaked in crimson fluid. ' _Some type of military feud?'_ Jason thought. But as he got closer, he saw all of the hooded assailants had animal characteristics.

 _'White Fang'_ he thought while narrowing his eyes. From what Blake had told him, the faction had once been a peaceful group of faunus who were fed up with being on the short end of the stick, so to speak. But, their methods became more and more violent when a new leader stepped up. Still, the soldiers by the wreckage had a wounded man, and Jason guessed the White Fang would shoot him, an armed human, on sight.

He crouch-ran silently into the brush toward the White Fang soldiers; sneaking up behind a rifleman that had strayed a bit further from the others. He snuck up behind the man, grabbing him from behind and pulling him down into the pushes. He covered his mouth with his left hand while he wrapped his right arm around the man's neck, cutting off his air ways. Once the faunus went limp, Jason dropped him back to the ground and moved to the next.

Jason snuck up behind another White Fang member and hit him in the back of the head with the stock of his M4. The other faunus ended up hearing the evident _CRRACKK._ They turned to see Jason level his rifle and firing a few bursts toward the Fangs. As they scattered to find cover, Jason counted at least seven soldiers, three had rifles, three had pistols, and the largest of the faunus had a giant black scimitar strapped to his back.

Jason slung his M4 over his shoulder before running to the nearest boulder that hid White Fang behind it. He swiftly climbed to the top, so he loomed over two armed faunus. He quickly jumped down, toppling one guy and landing on the faunus's back as he turned and punched the remaining faunus in the stomach, then delivered an uppercut to his face. He then wrenched the strange-looking assault rifle from the falling soldier's hands and unloaded the clip at three more men who were advancing with their guns trained on the human. Jason had to raise an eyebrow when he saw the bullets-not punch through their bodies like bullets should when traveling at over 1000 feet per second, but instead seemed to burst when they made contact, like hitting a force field. Curiously, he pulled the magazine out, and saw a standard 5.56 mm bullet. Upon closer inspection however, it appeared to be filled with a grayish powder. ' _Dust?'_ Jason thought. He was pulled out of his thoughts when another Fang member came at him with a knife, cutting a gash in to Jason's right forearm before he could jump away. Jason sized him up, the faunus couldn't have been older than seventeen, then he pulled out his own knife, and the two circled each other, before the faunus lunged. As he brought the knife down at Jason, the warrior hooked his arm around the other's arm, bringing a knee to his stomach causing the him to double over. Jason ended their little duel by bringing a swift kick to the younger fighter's face.

The other-worlder examined the cut on his arm, but looked up when he heard footsteps and saw the last White Fang member approaching with his sword raised high. Jason kneeled down, leveled his M4, and shot a continuous stream of lead at him. The larger man dodged out of the line of fire, Jason kept firing at him until he heard the unfortunately familiar _CLICK_ of an empty gun. He tossed it aside and stood to face his attacker...only to be hit by the pommel of the faunus' sword. He was sent rolling across the grass, a small stream of blood started leaking from his forehead. He unholstered his D50 and fired two rounds as the larger man charged again with his sword. The man dodged the first bullet, but the second tore into his right thigh. Jason ran and tackled the faunus to the ground. He let loose punch after punch, but then the man threw Jason of of him. Faster than he could react, Jason lunged with his knife, slashing at him as the faunus blocked with his sword.

Their blades clashed, they slashed and lunged and hacked at each other, neither giving an inch of ground despite both of them being covered with cuts and bruises and exhausted. They paused for a moment; at a stalemate.

The large swordsman ran at Jason once again while limping a bit from the hole in his leg, but Jason was too worn out. He managed to weakly duck under the first swipe, bringing his pistol up to the man's stomach and fired. Four shots could be seen tearing out of his back. The man coughed up blood, then fell back onto the ground. Dead. Jason backed away, looking down at his blood covered hands. His vision began to get blurry, and...was it him or were the tataus glowing?

Nope.

He was just blacking out from a mix of exhaustion, blood loss from all the cuts, and the renewed trauma that comes from killing.

He fell on his back, staring up at the gray sky. A gray sky, just what he needed at a time like this. An armored man in white entered his field of vision. Jason recognized him as one of the soldiers from the crash site. He could see the soldier's lips move, but couldn't hear the words as his vision went completely dark.

* * *

 **HELLOOOOOOOO THERE, MY READERS! Guess what. I want to play a little game. SPOILER ALERT!**

 **As you may know, our good friend, Jason Brody, shall join Beacon. Oh, come on, you all saw it coming! Anyhow, many of you may be wondering why Jason only has three weapons when he's able to hold four in Far Cry 3. So, I shall hold a little contest. I want YOU, my readers, to come up with suggestions for Jason Brody's very own RWBY style weapon.**

 **Here are the requirements:**

 **1\. It has to be a hybrid weapon of some kind**

 **2\. Nothing too over the top or flashy**

 **That's it. Leave your suggestions in the reviews and I shall take them all under consideration. Thank you all for your support on the story.**

 **Peace out.**


	5. Chapter 5

_"Did I ever tell you the definition of insanity? Hm? Insanity, is doing the exact same thing, over and over, expecting that something is going to change. That. Is. Crazy. The first time somebody told me that, I dunno, I thought they were messing with me so, boom, I shot him. The thing is...he was right."_

* * *

Jason woke up in a white room. As he sat up, he looked around. The room looked like a regular hospital room; white walls, a door, white tile floors, a window-a window! Jason got up slowly, noticing the bandages around his right arm, abdomen and left hand. As he looked out the window, he saw a city. A paved road cut through a neighborhood of apartment buildings, shops, and even a library. People walked along the sidewalks, human and faunus, while various cars and trucks drove by. He was stunned at how much of this place resembled home. The sound of the door opening shook him from his thoughts.

"Quite the view, isn't it?" Standing before him was a man in a dark green suit, black shoes, a green scarf with a silver cross on it, and square glasses that he pushed up to his brown eyes. He also had silver hair, which Jason thought was pretty strange given that he couldn't be older than 50. "My name is Ozpin." The older man extended his hand as he approached Jason, and they shook.

"Jason Brody. If you don't mind me asking, how did I get here? Also, where is here?" Jason asked, wanting to get straight to the point. He'd never admit it, but hospitals creeped him the fuck out.

"Well, after you so bravely, and dare I say more than recklessly rushed to the aid of hose soldiers in the forest outside Vale, A bullhead picked up their distress signal and evacuated you and them to the city."

"I see. Was anyone hurt?" He asked concernedly.

"One man was shot in the leg, the rest only received a few scrapes in the crash. But..." Ozpin continued, "I can't say the same for the White Fang members you fought." It started coming back to Jason. How he fought those men, the teenager he kicked in the face, the man he killed...

The teen sat back down on the hospital bed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I didn't really have a choice when I killed that guy." Ozpin just nodded.

"I'm well aware. But that is what made me want to talk to you in person. You could have easily shot, and most likely killed, those people from a distance given the artillery you had with you. Yet, you chose to bravely, and very recklessly, jump into the fray and subdue most of them non-fatally.

I'm not sure who you are or where you come from, Mr. Brody. But, I can safely say that you've seen much violence and hardships before."

"What makes you say that?" He asked, confused. Ozpin then pulled out a rusty, yellow flip-lighter with a 9mm bullet jammed into the side of it. The round hadn't gone all the way through. It had saved his ass when Vaas had shot him in the chest. "Where did you get that?" He asked quickly.

"We found it stitched into the lining of your satchel. Your other possessions and weapons are in our custody, just until we talk."

 _Dennis, you sneaky bastard._ Jason nodded, "What's there left to talk about?" Ozpin smiled, "Well, I'm the headmaster of Beacon Academy, one of the most prestigious huntsmen academies on Remnant. And after seeing your skill and bravery, I want to extend an offer to you."

The young man raised an eyebrow, "You want me to go to your school?"

"Not just a school, Mr. Brody. You'd be studying alongside some of the best future warriors from around the world, to become a protector of the people, and fight against the evil of this world." Ozpin finished stoically.

Jason pondered the offer and went over the options:

1.) Take it.

2.) Decline and wander around this foreign world with nothing but his clothes and his weapons.

"...Alright, I'll join Beacon."

The grey-haired man smiled, "Excellent. The school year starts in two weeks. I'll send you the information you need on this." He then took out a white and gold, glass smartphone.

"This scroll is standard issue for all Beacon students." Jason took it. He then got up as a nurse walked in the door carrying a tray with clothes on it. She and Ozpin then left to give Jason some privacy. He dressed himself in a black hoodie, teal t-shirt, cargo pants with an arctic camouflage pattern, and tan combat boots.

* * *

As he stepped out of the hospital room, he met up with Ozpin and they walked down to the lobby. Jason was given his things, and had his bow, quiver, rifle and pouches in his duffel bag. He slung his satchel and duffel bag over his shoulder while he kept his pistol holstered on his right thigh. There was something primitive and comforting in carrying a weapon. But that itself could be dangerous. Just having a weapon can make you overconfident, arrogant. You tend to let yourself get into situations that you shouldn't because, hey, you could always shoot your way out. You start feeling indestructible, a bit too full of yourself, a little too brave, a little too macho. But carrying guns gave you options. That wasn't always a good thing. He'd made plenty missteps on Rook Island to figure that out.

As they walked out into the sunlight, Ozpin turned to Jason. "There's a hotel close to my school, you can use a room there until the semester starts, but you'll need this." He then handed Jason what he could only assume was a credit card, given the serial number, and the part that said amount:...HOLY SHIT THAT'S A LOT OF ZEROES!

"I-Mr. Ozpin, I can't accept this. Not after anything you've done fro me." Jason stammered out. The older man just shook his head and smiled. "I'm afraid I have to insist, Mr. Brody. After all, we didn't exactly find a wallet on your person."

 _'Well, he's got me there...'_ Jason thought. "Alright. I guess I'll see you when school starts."

"Indeed, Mr. Brody."

* * *

Jason walked through downtown Vale as the sun lazily hung in the afternoon sky. He'd dropped his things off at the hotel-minus his new scroll, pistol and combat knife-and had gone to do a bit of exploring. He'd walked around for a good hour or so before stopping in front of a small shop that said _Dawn's Hunter's Supply Stand_. He stepped in, thankful that they had air conditioning, and started browsing the various weapons, clothes, tools, and other things.

The young man picked out a tan utility/protective vest that, according to the tag, could stop most small arms fire and it had enough pockets to fit various ammo. He'd be free of having all those pouches clattering on him. Jason got a set of proper Dust arrows, five fire, five ice, five earth, and a quiver that could store them and withstand the varying temperatures from the Dust. He also picked out a black, steel, serrated machete with a kevlar sheath that was strapped horizontally just on his waist while the rubber handle peaked a bit out from behind his right side.

He then picked out light elbow and knee pads, along with light bracers and shin guards that he could strap to his various limbs, all slightly shone with a dull silver color. When he asked the owner, he said the armor was tested on himself and that he was a retired huntsman. He wasn't sure if that was legal, but, whatever. As he stood in the check-out line, Jason heard screeching tires and turned to see a black van parking right in front of the store. Men wearing ski masks opened the sliding doors and Jason, realizing that they weren't here for skiing supplies, instinctively ducked as the man entered, aiming handguns at the occupants.

The young man slipped behind a shelf and into an aisle of camping supplies before anyone could see, and quickly unholstered his pistol. he set his bag of new gear on the floor and speed-crawled diagonally to the far side of the store. The robbers made their way through, two staying near the check-out line to make sure no one tried anything while the other three ignored the cash registers and started gathering anything and everything that had Dust in it, including the Dust.

Jason was on the side farthest from the registers, and one man was coming to his side, two aisles down. He quickly made it to the end of the shelf to the robber's right. As the man turned the left corner, he turned his back to Jason, and he quickly jumped the man. His arm wrapped around his neck while his other hand covered the man's mouth, preventing him from crying out as the young warrior choked him out. Once his body went limp, Jason took his gun-a handgun that looked a bit like an M9 Beretta, with a gray and black finish and, when he took the magazine out, held twelve dust rounds.

Jason heard a scream. He risked a peak over the shelves, and saw the two at the cash register start getting anxious. One approached a young woman, a faunus, and attempted to grab her. Jason quickly pulled the slide and aimed the M9, aiming for the center of his chest. The biggest target.

He fired three rounds, punching holes in his chest and then had to duck when one of the men that had been collecting Dust swung a baseball bat at the back of his head. He shot the man in the knee, and he screamed in agony as the bullet tore straight through his kneecap like butter. The warrior quickly slammed the butt of the pistol on his forehead, and watched as he fell unconscious. Grabbing the bat, he threw it by the handle, it spun through the air, hitting the third man in the throat. The robber clutched his throat, trying to stop the muscles from spasming due to the impact, and Jason ran at him and kicked him in the face. He then leveled the M9 and fired at the last guy, but he ducked behind the counter.

When he came up, he was using the owner of the shop as a human shield, his left arm wrapped around his neck while the gun was kept at his temple. "Drop the gun! Drop it or this guy dies!"

* * *

 **There it is!**

 **Chapter 5. Sorry it took so long. I'll still try to maintain some sort of schedule for posting. Emphasis on _Try._**

 **Anyway, I've made a poll for pairings for this story. Please vote.**

 **Fireballmonkey out.**


	6. Chapter 6

Options. Jason needed options.

The thug had his left arm around the shopkeeper's neck. His right switched from aiming a handgun at the man's temple to aiming it at Jason. There was very low chances of the old man or Jason not getting shot. As he thought, he remembered the man saying he'd been a huntsman. Huntsman use aura to protect themselves. Aura can work like a shield. He really hoped this would work...

Jason switched his aim from the gunman to the shopkeeper's left shoulder and squeezed the trigger. The round hit the man, sending him spinning out of the robber's grip and to the floor. Jason then aimed again and put three bullets in the bandit's's torso. An older woman, probably the shopkeeper's wife, crawled toward him and helped him up. The man rolled up his sleeve to reveal a bad bruise where Jason had shot him, but his aura had stopped any serious injury. After making sure everyone was okay, Jason left in a hurry before police showed up.

His thoughts circled in his head. He was _really_ lucky his plan had worked. He'd need to study this world a _lot_ more if he was gonna survive, not to mention find a way back home.

The next day, Jason found himself at Vale's public library, sat dow table with a stack of books on Remnants cultures, history, the grimm, huntsman, aura, everything. He read late into the day, and didn't really stop until a librarian tapped him on the shoulder. "Excuse me, young man. We're about to close for the night.

Jason nodded and thanked her, taking the books he'd borrowed and heading back to his hotel.

* * *

Two weeks went by fast, and Jason spent the time studying, learning. If he'd had this kind of motivation in college, he probably would've gotten a stable job. And now he was going to a school to become some kind of magic crimefighter or something after having his age reversed ten years and being dumped on another world with evil monsters that want nothing more than to destroy humanity. Why does his life have to suck? Did he step on a puppy? Hit a baby with his car? Murder a unicorn?

Anyway... Now he was on some Halo 2-lookin' spaceship -that couldn't go in space- to go to aforementioned superhero school. Maybe one of the professors will be bald and in a wheelchair. He stood at the window of the passenger bay and admired the view of the ocean and city of Vale from so high up.

After spending the rest of the flight alone with his thoughts, He stared at his reflection for a short time. He was dressed in a blue T-shirt, khaki cargo pants, a black hoodie and black running shoes.

He'd look like a regular kid if not for the assault rifle slung across his back, pistol on his right thigh and what was virtually a machete on his belt. He'd also sewn his smaller knife's sheath into the strap of his rifle so it hung just below his left clavicle, the handle sticking straight down. His brown hair had grown slightly, messily spiked up and his green eyes possessing that same, haunted expression that they wore after the island. However, they also shone with something new. Hope. But hope for what?

That he'll be different? Do things better than before? He didn't even know, but nevertheless, it was a refreshing change.

He'd also rolled his sleeves up, wrapping his forearms and the palms of his hands with bandages to hide the tataus. Jason exited the ship once it had docked and strolled about the vast campus of Beacon academy. An explorer at heart.

Until he got lost. He stopped and viewed the large courtyard he stood in. It was pretty big, so he tried to see any people he could ask directions from. He tried to concentrate to see further, and immediately stumbled over and landed on his ass. For a moment, he thought his eyes had literally zoomed in like a rifle scope and then back out. He'd been able to see things that were farther away. He'd seen a bird perched on the branch of a rose bush, a fountain that spilled into a koi pond, and a few other people, all at least a hundred yards away. Jason brought his hand to his face and, carefully, focused on the small lines and scars along his palm.

He blinked as the image expanded as if he were looking through a camera or microscope. He stood pack up before looking back over to the fountain, which just looked like a lump jutting out from the sea of hedges and bushes. He squinted, and it happened again. He stopped and thought for a moment. He remembered reading about how each huntsman's aura took a unique shape as, to him, a superpower.

Could this be his? And, if so, just how far did this go? Jason blinked again, letting his vision return to normal. Awesome. He could see really far. "Huh." That's all he could really say. He wasn't really surprised, nor unsatisfied with how...tame his semblance turned out to be. If he could see how far it went, it could be a valuable asset. One of the rules of combat: everything can be an asset.

"You lost, too?" Jason turned to see a boy around his age with dark skin, short black hair and violet colored eyes. He was dressed in a black hooded jacket that extended down to just above his knees and had the sleeves cut off. Under that was a loose grey shirt, a series of necklaces with clay beads on them and light grey pants. He also had a red sash tied around his waist that seamed to somewhat mask the weapons belt that held a kukri knife with a two foot long blade. Slung over his shoulder was a long blunderbuss gun with a wooden stock and frame. The kid reminded him a _lot_ of Adewalé from Assassins Creed 4.

"A bit," Jason replied.

"Well, wanna come with?" The boy asked before extending his right hand. "The name's Leo. Leo Noctis."

He shook, "Jason Brody." A beat of silence past. "So, what was with the stumbling earlier? You just come down?"

"What? Oh, no. I just wasn't looking where I was going."

"Cool. So, do you know where the auditorium thing is? I'm meeting a friend of mine."

"No idea."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to walk around 'til we find it."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"So, where you from, Jason?"

"Uh, an island of the coast of Vacuo." Jason had worked out a hodgepodge backstory that was vague enough that no one would care to fact check it.

"Cool. I'm from the outlines of Vale myself. Little fishing village called Eastwood."

Jason nodded along as Leo spoke, "So, how'd you end up with a gig like this?"

"Eh, I was already pretty good at fighting, not a lot of ways to make bank out there, so I figured I'd just put the skills to good use." Leo explained as they waited at the back of the auditorium. "Well, I suppose everyone's got a reason." They waited for whoever ran the joint to come on stage and explain things.

Once Ozpin gave his riveting welcome speech, the lady from the hologram on the airship told them that they had to sleep in the ballroom. Jason hoped he'd get a good night's rest.


End file.
